you got what i need
by and your starless skies
Summary: singsongsung/daedreamer collaboration fic.  - How Nate and Serena Found New Jersey. Seriously. -
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: No copyright infringement intended.

**AUTHORS' NOTES**: Sooo, this fic, lol - it is a collaborative work by **singsongsung** and **daedreemer**. It's starts post 4x05 and spins off from there. **Singsongsung **has written the character of Serena throughout and **daedreemer **has written Nate.

It was meant to be a tag, but it's taken on a life of it's own so the only promise we make is that it's full of NS fluff and shipping.

Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy!

* * *

Nate takes another gulp from his bottle of water, tries to keep his attention from wandering. He's at Hamilton House, sitting with Juliet and two of her friends. He's got his arm around her and she's leaning into him and it feels kind of nice, domestic, like she's his girlfriend or something.

Except he's not really sure she is - she kind of seems to be. They spend a lot of time together and he's gotten to know her better, she visits his suite almost every day and he finally got to see her apartment - and her bed. He likes her, likes her little smile and the sarcastic lift she can give to her eyebrows and the business suits wears – and by all accounts, she's his girlfriend now.

Except... it doesn't really feel that way - and he doesn't really want to think about it.

He puts the water bottle down and shifts a little, smiles at her and interrupts their conversation politely, _"I've got... studying to do, see you girls later...?"_ He gives her a kiss and is already up and moving into another room when he sees her.

Serena keeps looking at him after she meets his eyes, even if it was only an accident. She's never been the girl who avoids (only the girl who runs away), so she keeps looking at him, purposefully, even though she doesn't know what to do now.

She tugs at the hem of her shirt and wonders about her hair for a moment, considers smiling for a split second, but she remembers how he has new _priorities_ now and how he gave credit to a rumour on Gossip Girl even after she _asked_ him not to - and how it had shaken her, because of all the memories she has that feature Nate, in none of them has he ever turned her down.

Until now.

Their eyes meet and meet again and he has two choices. He can keep walking or he can- not. He pauses, nods at her, and says, "Hey..." a little hesitantly.

He hasn't seen her in person since that party, just lingered an extra second or two over her pictures on Gossip Girl. He knows there's a good chance she's mad at him and he has to remind himself that that's not supposed to matter - but with her gaze on his face, he can't really remember why not.

She licks her lips nervously. "Hi."

"How-" he clears his throat little, "How've you been?"

"Fine." She glances behind him, at Juliet and her friends. "You?" She waits just a second and then she can't help asking, "Having lots of safe sex?" with her eyebrows arched expectantly.

He frowns a little, bristles. "Yes," he retorts, vaguely defiant.

Serena balks a little at that, blinks at him. "Awesome," she says flatly.

Nate looks away, embarrassed suddenly. He shuffles his feet, "You _asked,"_ he defends. But he can still feel a flush to his cheeks, you're not supposed to kiss and tell and- "Not _a lot_ a lot," he mumbles.

She tilts her head, shaking it a tiny bit, and looks down at the floor. "Stop talking," she tells him.

There's a smile that tries to work its way onto his face, he ducks his head. "Yeah, that would... seem like the best- I'm not making it any better by- yeah, right... stopping," he agrees, nodding slowly, his gaze lifting carefully to her face.

She slips her hands into the pockets of her skirt and considers him for a moment. "You could walk me to class," she says.

He tilts his head a little, kind of surprised. "Okay..." he responds automatically though, nodding.

She slips her bag off of her shoulder and holds it out to him expectantly. "You can carry my books, too."

He can't stop the smile this time, doesn't bother hiding it either. "Oh... okay..." he takes her bag and slings it over his shoulder so it joins his own. "Thanks," he adds wryly, then motions for her to precede him from the room. "After you..."

"Thank you." She walks ahead of him and doesn't stop to wait until she's out of the building. She glances over her shoulder then; she still kind of gets lost on this campus sometimes.

He comes up beside her and instinctively lifts his arm to throw around her shoulders- stops himself at the last second and ends making a jerky motion to rub at his hair that he hopes she doesn't notice.

"So... uh," he glances around, unused to feeling awkward with Serena, "Where to?"

She waves a hand vaguely in the air. "That way."

Nate laughs softly, "Do you know where you're going or is this a scavenger hunt?" He bumps her shoulder lightly, "Because I'd be okay with that."

She makes a face at him and bites the corner of her lip. "You've been to college before. How important are classes, really, do you think?"

Nate purses his lips in thought for a moment. "Not as important as knowing where to get the good iced coffee."

She sighs. She really has no idea where her class is. "I can skip," she says slowly. "This _once..."_

He laughs again, but slows down, stops walking all together when he remembers something. "You have your schedule?" He holds a hand out, palm up, "Lemme see it..."

She'd asked him to show her around - and he hadn't.

Serena points to her bag, shifts her weight from foot to foot. "In there, somewhere."

"Oh right... forgot." He pulls her bag around in front of him, starts to open it, and hesitates. He never would have hesitated Before, but he just doesn't _know_ anymore.

"Do you want me to- I can look for it...?" It's an awkward sort-of question and he feels silly as soon as he says it out loud.

She nods, crosses her arms and hugs herself a little. "Never mind," she says quickly. "Let's just...you said something about iced coffee."

He has a hand inside her bag, but he pulls it out without looking, nods. "Yeah..." he zips the back shut again, re-adjusts it on his shoulder, "There's a place..." he motions with his head for them to walk again.

"Do you- do you like your classes?" He realizes all of a sudden that he hasn't asked her this, hasn't really asked her anything at all... hasn't really talked to her.

"Yeah, sure." A beat of silence passes and then she blurts, in a rush, "I still don't...know, though. I'm pretty sure this is where I want to be but I have no idea what I want from it."

He touches her elbow to guide her around the corner; it's a thoughtless, over before he's registered it, action - but it leaves behind the sensation of her smooth skin against his fingertips. "There's uh..." he rubs them against his jeans, "There's time to figure it out though, right?" He glances at her, "And you just got here... you have to- you have to give it a chance."

She presses her lips together. "I don't know, the boys here are kinda annoying."

He studies her profile for a beat. "Oh yeah?"

Her cheeks feel strangely hot and she keeps her eyes ahead, looking out for a coffee shop. "Yeah. I guess they have different priorities." It's a jab and she kind of means it as one.

He winces at the words, remembers their conversation and how he hadn't let himself really look at her face. He looks away now too, eyes on the sidewalk as they walk.

"Maybe they have to have different priorities," he offers quietly.

She blows out her breath and takes a peek at him in her peripheral vision. "Tell me why?" She didn't mean for it to come out like a question, but she doesn't correct it and she doesn't take it back.

Nate shrugs, "Because their old priorities aren't theirs anymore." He glances at her and can't stop himself, "Are they?" He challenges.

"I don't know. I _told_ you that I don't know what I'm doing right now and you throw an ultimatum at me in a hospital cafeteria. You pick your priorities, Nate. It's kinda the whole point of priorities."

"Hey, whoa." He stops, latches on to her arm, "Hold on. The cafeteria- that was- what was I supposed to do? And you pick priorities out of what you have, I didn't- don't have- you took yourself out..."

"What did you expect me to do?" She shakes her arm in his grasp but she doesn't pull away.

He opens his mouth and then shuts it, stares at her for a moment. "I don't know," he admits. "But I wanted you not to leave."

"I... _couldn't."_ She shakes her head, trying to clear it. It's two weird: he's carrying her books but he has a girlfriend and she doesn't know how this works, not at all. "Not then, not at that second. I could've...after, if you'd given me a minute, or a day, but you said..." She shrugs.

"Serena..." He's still touching her arm. He looks down at it for a beat, "There've been so many moments- days... I don't how long I'm supposed to- and I thought it didn't matter... I really thought I could-" he stops, blinks at her. "I don't know how long I'm supposed to give you and I always-" _I always just want you now._

"I said out." She looks at him through her eyelashes. "I said out, and I'm out, you have...you have a girlfriend."

"Yeah," Nate says, voice low, "That's-" he swallows hard, "You said out and I have a girlfriend... I have a girlfriend because you're out."

"And I can't be back in." She bites her lip. "Because now you have a girlfriend. Because I said out."

"I... wait." His hold on her arm tightens a little as all the meaning of that sentence tumble through his thoughts at once, "Serena...? What are you-" he shakes his head, trying to pick a train of thought, of what she could mean- "What?" He can't.

She tries to shake his arm off. _Let go._

He doesn't let her go. "What are you- just what...? What does that _mean?"_

"It means you broke up with me!" She yells it at him without meaning to, her heart beating in her throat. "And now you're _happy_ and I can't even find my way to my English class!"

"What?" Nate squawks, kind of outraged. _"I_ broke up with _you!"_ He gapes at her, "That's- that's! That would never happen! I would _never_ break up with you!"

"Okay, sure, except that you _did."_

"You!" He accuses, heart racing, hand holding her arm, "You did the breaking and the leaving and I-" he blows out a breath, looks at her with wide eyes, "Why would I ever...? I never wanted that."

She glares at him, shifts her arm in his hold until it's her hand instead, digs her nails into his palm a little as she grips his hand. "I didn't want it, either."

He winces, but doesn't pull his hand away, glares back at her instead. "Then why are we broken up?" He snaps.

"You tell me." She wants to laugh but she feels like she might cry instead.

"I don't-" he clenches his jaw for a second, it's not true. He knows. "Are you going to go kiss Dan every time we have a fight?"

"Are you going to call the authorities on my family just because you want to?"

"I didn't want to." He doesn't look away, but it's all he says. He doesn't have to tell her the things she already knows about her father.

"I love - I loved - I got _scared_ and when you weren't on my side, when you weren't with me when I asked you to be, I didn't know what to do. I kept thinking..." She blows out her breath, annoyed at herself. "I kept thinking that if you were my friend and not my boyfriend, everything would've made more sense. You would have just picked me instead of trying to protect me."

"I was your boyfriend _and_ your friend - I would have done the same thing." He drops his gaze from her face, "I'm sorry that you- that you hate that, but it's... it's still- you ran off to meet him and I-" he licks his lips, _"I_ got scared. So... yeah, it's still what I would have done."

She loosens her hold on his hand a little. "You got scared of what?"

"I don't know-" he sighs, "I guess... crazy dad's at the ends of their ropes that kidnap their children..?" He gives her a humorless smile, "It's possible my perspective is warped on this... it doesn't matter. But I didn't _want_ to, okay?"

Serena looks at him for a long moment, considering his level of honesty. "Okay," she finally agrees.

"Mhm... yeah, okay." He blows out a slow breath and then tries to wiggle his fingers in her hold, "I think my hand is bleeding."

She squeezes his hand harder. "Good."

He pulls her a step forward, closer to him. "Are you going to tell me?"

"What?" His mouth is distracting. "Tell you what?"

He sidles a little closer to her, knows in the back of his mind that they're in public, that they're not that far from Hamilton House, that Gossip Girl has _streaming video_ now.

But mostly he knows Serena's eyes and the smell of her hair and her mouth. "You. Dan." His eyes are on her mouth, "Kissing." There's more to that question, but he doesn't have quite enough focus to remember it right now.

She ducks her head a bit, letting her hair fall into her face. "You hurt me," she mumbles.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so so sorry," he whispers, moves a little closer, "I didn't mean to. But it'd've been nice if you'd yelled at me or ruined my stuff but not kissed Dan."

"I want you to be on my side." She tugs at his hand for emphasis. "I just want you to be on my side.'

"Who else's side would I even be on?" He pulls her another step closer, "I don't want to be on anybody else's side. Serena-" he sighs, stares hard at her, "Don't you _know_ that?"

"I - maybe." She sniffs; her nose is running. "Yes."

He pulls her hand up to wrap around the back of his neck and steps into her space, his other arm around her waist and his mouth covering hers. He kisses her to make a point - and loses the point a few seconds in. He spent three months dampening every memory he had of them, of this, and three seconds is all it takes for them to spring to life in vivid color.

He pulls back breathless, surprised even though he initiated, and with her startled blue eyes on his face he remembers the point. "That's not-" he laughs hoarsely, "That's not why we broke up either."

"Don't do that." She lays her hand flat against his chest but never gets around to pushing him away. _We're outside. You have a girlfriend. _She wipes at her nose with a back of her hand, feels teary and a little shaky all of a sudden - he has a girlfriend. "I'm a mess."

Nate tilts his head forward, touches their foreheads together, "Hey... do what...?" He slides the hand at her waist up, rubs at her back, "You know how I feel about messes, I love them."

She really wants to hug him, just hug him, but, "You know Gossip Girl's probably streaming this right now, and you have..." She presses the heels of her hands just under her eyes, leaning back from him a little, taking a deep breath. "You have to buy me iced coffee, you said you would."

"I am," he nods, watches her intently, "I will." But he doesn't move. "We're going to find your English class too." He says carefully, lifts a hand to brush a strand of her hair off her cheek. "Maybe we can walk the whole campus...?" He peers down, "Let me see your shoes?"

"I can't." She presses her lips together, lifts one foot so that he can see her heels, even though her shoes have nothing to do with anything. "I just can't right now." Not with all of campus most likely watching.

There's something about the way she says that that makes him ache a little inside. He watches her for another beat before nodding slowly, "Okay," he says softly, "Okay..." He takes a step back from her and instantly misses having her so close.

He tamps the feeling down. "We'll uh..." he blinks at her— and realizes abruptly what he just did.

"... go to the..." he trails off, not bothering to finish the sentence.

He just _kissed_ her. His eyes widen a little, thoughts clearer suddenly - he _kissed_ her, on the _street._

He glances around and blows out a slow breath, feels unbalanced and stupid and yet he still almost takes her hand. "Shit."

Serena smiles gently, and if this was four months ago she would've giggled and kissed him and teased, but it's now and it's the middle of campus, so she tucks her hair out of her face and says, "Let's go somewhere that's...not here."

He nods, eyes on her face, strangely dazed. "Yeah..." his lips tilt up a little, "Good idea... yeah." He rubs at his hair sheepishly.

She bites her lip. "I don't know...where."

"I'm taking you to get coffee and we're going to..." he sighs, shrugs, "I don't actually know what just happened." He gives her a half-smile, "You?"

"Can we go somewhere that...there aren't any other people?" All of a sudden, out of nowhere, she wants to talk to him; to talk to him about them, which she's never really allowed before.

"We can do that..." he agrees carefully, glances at her, "If that's what you want..."

When they take a step and he bumps into her a little, so their hands brush together.

"None of that," she says lightly. She crosses her arms but lets herself fall into step with him; exes are allowed to do that much.

* * *

**.tbc.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

Nate lets them into his and Chuck's suite. "Chuck's barely ever here these days..." he says quietly. They were quiet the entire way here - not uncomfortably so, but still telling. Still unlike them.

He feels expectant and weirdly nervous when he turns to face her after shutting the door. "Just us," he shrugs.

"Uh oh," she says as lightly as she can, stepping out of her shoes and padding over to Chuck's liquor cabinet in her bare feet.

He drops their stuff onto the sofa and follows her example, trails her to the cabinet in his socks. He leans an elbow on the bar, watches her fill two glasses with Chuck's scotch. "Uh oh," he echoes wryly, smiling a little.

She pushes one glass toward him, takes a long drink from her own and then sets the glass down, shuffling a little bit closer to him so that their elbows bump.

Nate takes a gulp of scotch. He has no clue what is going on right now, but he's got Serena _right here_ and that's enough. He'll go with it. "Nice weather we're having." He teases, quirks his lips.

"Mmhm." She steps even closer, slips her arms around him without really thinking about it and presses her face into his neck. _Missed you._

There's a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and then his arms go around her, tugging her closer, his face turning into her hair as he hugs her against him. It's there then - the feeling he was missing before, the one he's been missing all summer, indescribable and filling him up and just _right._ He closes his eyes and holds her. _Love you._

"You seem happy, lately." She swallows. "Happier than this summer, I mean."

"You were gone this summer." He knows that neither here nor there, but he thinks he might know where she's going with that statement - and he'd rather not, he'd rather just hold her.

She sneaks a hand between them and pokes his stomach. "You were _busy_ this summer."

"Busy's good," he whispers, "Busy means no time for thinking."

Serena disentangles herself from the hug, leans with her back against the counter and picks up her glass again, draining the contents in one gulp. "What would you have thought about?"

Nate crosses his arms over his chest when she moves away, "What would I have thought about _what_?" He leans to the side against the counter, sighs and just says the words, "Is this about Juliet?"

"I don't know. Is it?"

He doesn't even have to think about it. "No. You left and you didn't even e-mail _all_ summer."

"You looked a little occupied, sleeping with every girl in Chuck's little black book."

"I didn't have the Parisian directory to go off of like you did."

"You weren't exactly calling or e-mailing me either, _Nathaniel_," she spits back at him.

"Would you have _noticed_ if I had?" He snaps.

"Obviously!"

"No! Not obvious!" He makes a motion with his arms, "New guy in _every_ picture! You could'a met three new Nate's!"

"Well you definitely met a new _me_." She crosses her arms. "She's all _blonde_."

Nate's mouth drops open for a moment and then he crosses his arms again. "This _is_ about Juliet," he determines before adding more softly, "And she is _not_."

"You're basically dating me. Only bitchier. And...not me. And it's not..." She trails off and shrugs, shooting him a wounded look.

He drops his arms to his sides, shifting a little closer to her. "That's not true-" he cuts himself off, glances away from her face. "The only way to date you is to have you... and I... don't. I know."

"Because it was too hard." She blows out a quick breath and thinks about pouring herself another drink. "It wasn't supposed to be."

_We could have tried harder._ The thought makes his eyes sting and he rubs at his face before reaching for the glass and finishing his scotch in one long swallow. "I thought we'd be different too," he admits, refills their glasses.

"And now you have a girlfriend." She wishes he'd stop doing that.

Nate nods slowly, sets the decanter down and picks up his glass. "I like Juliet," he takes a gulp, feels the alcohol's warmth settling in his stomach, "I love you."

She blinks at him."Nate..." she whispers, "Don't."

He takes another sip. "Yeah... I know." _Don't._

"Don't..." She shakes her head, doesn't want him to look so sad about it. She hops up onto the counter and kicks gently at his shin. "Maybe it wasn't supposed to work out," she says. "Maybe we just thought it would."

(She knows it's a lie as soon as she says it, but she doesn't take it back because she can't love him _too_.)

He glares at her kind of resentfully. "That's not what happened." He finishes his scotch, brushes her knee with his hand when he sets the glass down.

She juts her chin out a little, stubbornly. "So tell me what happened." _Tell me_.

"We gave up." He refills his glass, brings it to his lips, looks at her over the rim, "Was easier."

She watches him for a moment, quietly, and decides that there might be an accusation in there somewhere. "You mean I gave up," she corrects him.

"Yeah." He licks his lips, "Me too though... I just..." he swirls the liquid in his glass a little, "I didn't want to- to fight you to stay if you didn't want- I dunno, maybe I should I have...?"

He looks at her, "Or maybe I did the right thing..." he smiles a little, "I guess it doesn't matter anymore. What are we doing?" He says it on a rush, holds out his glass for her to take a sip from.

She reaches for his shirt instead, grabs a handful of the fabric and tugs him to stand between her legs. "Skipping English and getting drunk."

Nate loops an arm low around her hips, finishes the drink himself. "Sounds like us..." he sets the glass on the counter, folds his hands together behind her, pulls her forward into him a little, "We're cool like that."

She tilts her head a little and smiles at him before she can help herself. "You're going to kiss me again."

He gives her a half-smile and inches closer, leans towards her, "You have a spidey sense about these things now?"

"You loved me..." she wonders in a whisper, bumping her nose against his, "when we were together...?"

He blinks at her. "Serena..." he whispers back, startled, at a loss as to how to even answer that - _yes_ isn't anywhere near- he huffs a tiny, incredulous laugh, "Always. I- always"

"So, before that? And after?" She reaches for the glass of scotch he poured her and takes a gulp.

He leans into her, kisses her while she has the taste of scotch on her tongue, "And now. And tomorrow. Definition of _always_, van der Woodsen," he teases.

"That's a long time. A really long time. And you have - "

He cuts her off with a kiss, pulls back and meets her gaze, "What do you want?"

Serena frowns, linking her arms around his neck comfortably. "What d'you mean?"

"When you think about you and always, what do you want?" _Am I on the list?_

"Hm." She rests her heels against the backs of his knees. "Cheesecake."

Nate smiles and ducks his head a little, feels silly. "Yeah..." he slides a hand up her back, rests his palm against the nape of her neck and he pulls her forward a little, lays his forehead on her shoulder. He shuts his eyes, "Nice choice."

Serena kisses the side of his head, puts her mouth by his ear. "Maybe you can come too."

"I would, if you let me." He turns his face, blinks his eyes open, "I wouldn't even make you share the cheesecake."

She finds his lips with hers, kisses him softly. "There'd be enough to share."

He holds her tighter, kisses back a little fervently. "I do love cheesecake," he murmurs, smiling against her mouth.

"I love you too." She touches his cheek with her fingertips. "Even when I'm not supposed to."

He feels his smile brighten, kisses her again, almost urgently this time. "Maybe..." he breathes, "You're never not supposed to..." He yanks her towards him, sliding her off and against his chest, his arms hooked underneath her, holding her up as he turns them around, grins, "Ever thought of that?"

"Sometimes. Seems kinda crazy, though." She rests her forehead against his and closes her eyes. "Where are you taking me?"

"The couch, the kitchen, my bed, coney island, vegas, the cheesecake factory..." he spins them around slowly again, "Anywhere you want to go?"

"Stay still for a second," she murmurs, hands on his shoulders. "Put me down."

Nate stops, does as she asks and lets her feet fall onto the living room's carpet. He looks into her face curiously, smile fading a little, "Uh oh...?"

She kisses him again. And again and again and again; it feels like what she was looking for all summer. "We can't...just," she tells him quietly, between kisses. "We shouldn't."

He doesn't have to breathe as long as he can kiss her like this forever. When she says something, her voice whispers through his thoughts, and he makes the monumental effort of leaning back, panting and dazed, "Whaa..t? We-" he kisses her again, "Us... we're- yes."

She giggles at the look on his face. "We're what?" she asks teasingly.

He blinks, leans his head against hers for a moment before laughing sheepishly, "Is yes not a thing we can be?" He nuzzles his nose against her cheek, "We can be yes."

"You're yes-ing with somebody else already," she reminds him. "And it can't be me - it can't only be me when you're with someone."

Nate's bottom lip puckers out a little, he can't help it. "I want to be yes-ing with you. I only yes with other people when you don't want to yes with me."

"I can only..." She laughs. "You need not to be with anybody else."

And he stares at her, because this is where he should tell her that she needs to not run off when things get hard, that she needs to not expect him to wait around all alone for whenever she remembers him and comes back, that he can change and-

But he's not going to say any of that, because none of it matters when she's smiling at him like that and he's got his arms wrapped around her like this, "If I wasn't with anybody else, we could be yes-ing?" He wiggles his eyebrows at her, smiling.

"You can't...break up with her because of me."

"Why else would I break up with her?"

"Because it's not right with her. Because it's not working for you. _Not_ because of me." She pokes him in the ribs but the look she's giving him is serious. _Understand this._

He tries really hard to not laugh, but a smile slides onto his face. "What if... for instance," he kisses her lightly on the tip of her nose, "It's not right with her, it's not working for me, _because_ she's not you?" He shrugs, "What then?"

"Still." She shakes her head. "Not because of me."

"It's not you... or her, it's me." He nods. _There_. It's true. He likes Juliet a lot - she's just, not Serena.

"So tell her that, Natie." She steps on his toes.

He rocks back on his heels so that she tilts forward into him. "I will," he says seriously and then adds teasingly, "I'm a little distracted right now though..."

"You have to tell her...before anything," she insists.

"Yeah, okay..." he nods seriously, but doesn't let her go. "I just-" he rolls his eyes a little embarrassedly, "Missed you."

"I missed you too," she says softly. "All summer, every day and every night, and I was going to...but then I got back and you had...her."

He tilts his head a little, "I thought I... should. Have her. Have something. Because I can't- nobody should, stay the same... right?" He's actually not so sure about that all of sudden.

"So I thought I should be different and I-" he stops, smiles, "But now I'm here," he squeezes her a little, "I always end up here because this is just where I want to be." It's really that simple.

"We could stay the same." It kind of sounds like a Taylor Swift song but she doesn't mind. "I'd be okay with that."

He smiles widens, "Same is looking like a really great thing." He curls a strand of her hair around his finger "Obviously I didn't give same enough credit."

She pulls her hair free. "Break up with her." She's never really given him orders, especially not about other girls, but Juliet is too fake-nice and Serena had Nate about a decade and a half before she ever did.

Nate grins, makes a show of patting his pockets looking for his phone, "Yes, Ma'am." But then instead of pulling his phone out, he bends down and quickly throws her up over his shoulder, picking her up and moving towards his room.

"Nate!" she gasps his name, squealing. "Put me _down_," she giggles.

Nate laughs. "Yup, totally going to do that." He spins her around once before carefully lowering her down onto his bed. He hops on the mattress next to her, grins, "See."

Serena laughs, lying back and stretching her arms up over her head. "You're drunk," she determines.

His gaze trails lazily up her form as she stretches, drinking in the sight of her. "Yeah..." he says easily, leans on his side facing her, watching her, "I'm drunk." _On you._

She laughs again, rolling over so that she's facing him. "Wanna know something funny?"

He gives her a half-grin and moves a hand to nudge her playfully in the shoulder, "Yeah," he meets her gaze, "Tell me."

"Paris and Blair and all her romantic ideas were rubbing off on me this summer, and I kept thinking...maybe you'd show up. Maybe you'd just get on a plane and show up all of a sudden." She bites her lip, buries her face halfway into his pillow. "I guess I could have gotten on a plane and come back home."

Nate's smile softens, "That's not funny." He watches her for a moment and then lowers his chin into the corner of his pillow, peers at her and says sincerely, "I know you think I broke up with you, but that's- that's not how it felt. It felt like you broke up with me and- and it hurt."

He stares at the pillow, "I didn't think- all summer, I really didn't that you would- that you'd want that, _me_... to do that. Maybe you wanted... Dan to do that. I don't know."

"I didn't want that." She frowns at him a little. "And I didn't break up with you."

He rolls his eyes, shifts his gaze back to her, "Then how did we end up broken up? 'cause I didn't break up with you."

She blinks at him, slow and lazy. "I don't know," she says quietly. They should probably figure that out. "I'm sorry, though. About Dan. I was mad at you and I was hurt and...confused." She touches his mouth with her fingertips, looks at him through her lashes as she says, "I needed you to do that, you know? But you didn't. And he did."

Nate pulls back from her touch, "I'm sorry. I really am." He sits up abruptly, anxious suddenly, "But that's- we're different people. That's going to happen. He'll do something and I won't or I'll do something and he won't and it's just... going to happen." He doesn't know what else to say.

"I know." She doesn't move. "But I asked you to, and you didn't."

"You asked me to be on your side and I was." He tilts his head a little, "I'm always on your side."

"I know," she breathes, trying to smile at him. "My dad just wasn't."

That look on her face, that kind of-broken smile, it makes his chest ache. He shifts closer to her and lies back down, stretches out alongside her and lays an arm over her, tugs her closer to him into a half-hug. "He'll be sorry too."

She smiles more genuinely and cuddles closer, tucks her head under his chin and kisses a spot just below his collarbone (_thank you_), decides to believe him.

He ducks his head, trails soft kisses down the side of her, up her chin and to her lips, deepens the kiss for a moment and then kisses the corner of her mouth, her cheek, "Can I say it now...?" He kisses the tip of her nose and then leans back the slightest bit to look at her, smiles.

"No." She kisses him to make sure he doesn't and then giggles, nods and kisses him again. "Yes."

He laughs, kisses her back after she says yes. "Okay," he smirks, "Brace yourself." He clears his throat dramatically, "I..." he drawls, waggles his eyebrows at her before saying on a rush, "Don't really like cheesecake."

"More for me, then." She kisses him again, deeper this time, pressing herself as close as possible. She bites at his lower lip, arches her eyebrows at him. "Or maybe I can persuade you to like it."

"Mhmh..." he breathes, "You are very... persuasive." He tangles their legs together, presses a smiling kiss to her mouth, "Use your powers for good, beautiful one. Have mercy."

"You let me go all summer without you; I don't know if you deserve any mercy."

"I do..." he whispers, "I haven't watched Finding Nemo or eaten a Pop-Tart _all_ summer."

She gives him a skeptical look. "You must have had _one_."

"No," he says very seriously, "Not even one, they made me- nope." He shakes his head, brushes their noses together.

"They made you what?" She hooks one of her legs over his.

"_Fat._" He deadpans. "Or miss you a lot, more than normal missing-you, so much I couldn't eat it, " he gives her a little smile, "One or the other."

She grins. "We should go to Paris. And bring Pop Tarts, because I don't think they have them there. And do summer all over."

He laughs, kisses her for being so adorable and brilliant and _her_. "Let's do it. Summer's always been my favorite anyway." He nods, "Do-over."

Serena nods. "We'll just wear sweaters if it's cold."

"Or stay inside... under sheets."

"Or on top of sheets." She kisses his neck. "You can warm me up, can't you?"

"Yeah..." he laughs lowly, "I'll be your snuggie."

"Mmhm." She smiles against his skin. "Lucky me."

"Lucky _me_," he mumbles, turns his face into her hair, whispers, "Love you," into her ear, like it's a secret.

"I missed hearing that," she whispers back. "Saying that."

He smiles against her temple, "I love you, love you, _love you_." He laughs hoarsely, "Let's summer in Paris for Christmas."

"That sounds so perfect." She holds up a hand, smallest finger extended. "Pinkie swear it."

Nate hooks his pinky finger with hers, gives their hands a shake, "Cross my heart." He licks his lips, "We'll watch movies and pretend to be tourists and eat Pop-Tarts and pick our classes for next semester together..."

She scrunches up her nose. "That's very forward-thinking of you."

"Not very forward," he fiddles with a few strands of her hair, "Just a little forward..."

"And what about now?" she asks, tilting her chin up a bit.

"We're skipping English and getting drunk." He echoes her words back to her.

"English is over now and you're _tipsy_."

"And I'm in love with you and I'm breaking up with my girlfriend." He recaps.

Serena pouts. "She's not _really_ your girlfriend..."

Nate smiles fondly at her, slips his fingers deeper in her hair. "She's not. She's just someone that-" he shrugs, "I have to break up with."

"Now?" Serena suggests optimistically, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Do you want me to text her?" It's not quite as teasing as it should be, too much of a _say-the-word_ sentiment behind the words - and he squishes half his face into the pillow, feels a little bad. Juliet deserves more than that.

She takes his hand and tangles their fingers. "Kind of." It seems a little mean, very high school, or she would have said yes.

He takes a peek at their joined hands, but doesn't lift his head, "That's not very nice," he mumbles, "You don't like her...?" He thinks to ask suddenly, "Why?"

"Because she's jealous of me," Serena says automatically, and then self-corrects, "Or I'm jealous of her. Or something."

"Or something." He agrees with a half-smile, slips his other arm underneath her and pulls her tighter against him, "My phone's in my pocket."

She laughs, slipping one arm out of their pretzel of limbs and hooking her thumb into one of his pockets. "Which one?"

He grins, tilts over a little, "Back pocket."

She kisses him lazily as she reaches around and pulls his phone out of his pocket. The screen of it is already lit up and she turns it around to show Nate. "She texted you first."

Nate glances at it, but his hands are tangled up in Serena's hair, against her skin, and he'd really rather not move. "What's she say?" He asks and gives her charming grin in hopes she'll read it to him.

"Hm, I think the basic gist is that she saw us - Gossip Girl saw us. Earlier. Outside."

"Oh..." he sighs a little, "I guess..." he gives her a sheepish smile, "Text back, sorry?" He laughs, "I dunno. Does it sound like she's dumping me? Let me see?" He cuddles her a little closer, arches up a bit to glance at the screen.

"_I'm_ not going to text her back, that's horrible." She sighs and huffs at him, "Stop dating people who aren't me."

He reluctantly untangles a hand from her hair and takes the phone, then he tosses it on the bed, "Stop _leaving_ me."

She gives him a gentle push onto his back and moves so that she can sit on him, her hands against his chest. "I will if you will," she offers, eyes on his face.

Nate looks up at her, smiling, a little bit awed by this entire afternoon. He holds up a hand, the smallest finger extended, "Pinkie swear."

She hooks their fingers together and nods. "Deal." She leans down to kiss him.

* * *

**.tbc.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

"I found them!" Nate shouts from the kitchen, hopping on his bare feet. The kitchen floor tile is cold and he's not wearing a shirt and Serena is one room over, on his bed, tangled in his sheets, and warm.

"I knew I'd saved a box!" He announces, racing back into the room and jumping onto the bed. He laughs and shows her the top, "Unopened."

"You're really into this whole planning-ahead thing lately, aren't you?" she teases, cuddled into the shirt he's no longer wearing, half of the buttons done up. "C'mere," she adds; she wants him closer.

He crawls towards her on the bed. "I think about you a lot," he confesses easily, puts the box in her lap so he can slide in behind her and cuddle her to his chest. He kisses the side of her head, "Sometimes it involves breakfast pastries..."

She grins at him, opening a box and tearing into one of the packages of Pop Tarts. "Other times, what does it involve?"

"Pancakes." He teases. _Everything._ He opens his mouth and leans over her shoulder for a bite, "Aah..."

Serena kisses him instead, lets him taste sugar on her lips. "Pancakes?" she murmurs skeptically, against his mouth. "No food for you til you give me a real answer."

"Mhm..." he props his chin on her shoulder, face tilted to hers, "Only for the love of Pop-Tarts..." he teases and then presses a kiss to her jawline, "It involves - things like, your hair in the sun or your dimples when you smile... it involves this." He hugs her a little tighter, kisses her again. _Us._

She feeds him a bite of Pop Tart. "Such a sweet talker."

He beams, gives her a closed-mouthed smile as he chews. "Sometimes..." he whispers in her ear, "It involves the beach... and your white bikini..."

"I packed that away," she tells him, licking her lips. "Strictly part of my summer wardrobe. Guess you missed out."

His gaze lifts from her mouth and he smiles, "I can help you unpack."

She smiles and pats his cheek. "Maybe."

He smiles back, leans his head into hers, "You remember when we were- when we were pretending to date? That summer? And sometimes we'd go to the beach and watch the waves and the clouds and squirt water bottles at each other...? That was nice."

"It was nice," she agrees. "It felt real."

"Yeah...it did." His arms come up around her, hands joining hers in breaking off pieces of the Pop-Tart, "It's kind of funny..." he offers quietly, "How easy that was. Right? And then when we- then it just wasn't."

"Yeah," she agrees, matching his quiet tone. "It just wasn't." She swallows hard and tells him, "We...we both had stuff going on that summer. Other stuff."

"Dan and Catherine." He studies her profile, "Now there's Dan and Juliet. I'm seeing a pattern."

She pokes her bottom lip out and holds his gaze for a moment before she breaks eye contact. "You had Blair first."

He's not really sure how that's relevant, but he blinks and says carefully, "That was- Blair and I broke up a long time ago."

"Yeah, but." She looks back at his face, wills him to just _get_ it.

"But..." he says slowly, arms still around her, "What?" He looks back at her, doesn't want to assume he knows where she's going with this.

"Nate." She twists in his hold, moves so that she's sitting facing him instead, on her knees, the sheets tangled around her legs. She tries to shake off the thought. "It was a long time ago."

He's a little startled when she moves, loosens his hold and meets her gaze when she turns around. "I know," he agrees, "Blair and I were a long time ago, that's what I'm saying... and the other stuff, isn't." And he's not exactly sure why this has come up when they'd about to eat Pop-Tarts and kiss.

"I loved you, though." That's the whole point, how she'd loved him and learned to bury it, how it had stayed buried until that night in the bar, and then again until another night in the bar three years later when he said he'd loved her too. It makes her feel kind of achy, thinking about it, about how she'd never - "I never told you." She's telling him now.

"You loved me?" He doesn't mean to echo her or to stare - but both just happen. Because he can't remember _when_ she'd loved- Because _he_ loved _her _and that was whole point. He loved her, but he was _with_ Blair and they both loved Blair; and he couldn't hurt them like that, he couldn't think or feel things like that- until the night when champagne and her smile had made it impossible to not think or feel that.

"I didn't..." he licks his lips, "Think that."

Serena bites her lip. "I tried not to...make it so you'd think that."

He stares at her for a beat and then he leans forward and kisses her softly, eyes closed and fingers tightening around his shirt she's wearing. It's a silent _I'm sorry_ before he whispers, "I love you," against her lips.

She smiles, presses a quick kiss to his lips. "Prove it," she whispers back, soft and teasing.

He returns the quick kiss against her lips, smiles, "List your terms."

"You should know." She pokes his chest.

He pouts playfully, "Help me out."

She kisses his cheek and says, against his skin, "Asked you first."

"A pop-tart ice cream sandwich?" He laughs softly, hides his face against her hair, is kind of embarrassed that the answer to this question is _anything you want._

She grins brightly. "Sounds yummy, but not exactly what I had in mind."

He hugs her tighter, "Mhm, I don't know what you have in mind," he mumbles, kisses her neck slowly, "Let's just run away... I'll help you unpack the white bikini... we'll take my boat... how important, really, is college?"

"I already skipped a year," she whispers, closing her eyes. "Maybe I should try to get through this one."

He smiles against her skin, "Admirable." He leans back so he can look into her face, "It's already Thursday. We could get to the Cape by tomorrow afternoon." He moves strands of hair from her face, tucks them behind her ear, "We could dock... swim, fish..." he wiggles his eyebrows, "Keep warm."

She shakes her head a little. "You're gonna make me fail, Archibald."

He laughs. "We'll do homework...?" He blinks at her, "Anything. We'll be together."

"Anything?" She bumps her nose against his, gives him a playfully serious look.

He holds her gaze. "Anything."

"Hm." She kisses him. "Okay."

He laughs against her mouth, "You're _confusing_," he teases and then tickles her.

She giggles, squirming away. "You're just _confused_."

He laughs, "You make my head spin."

"Let's go," she says quietly. "I mean it."

He grins at her, beams. "Good." And he kisses her, can't stop smiling. "We'll memorize the Columbia Campus map."

Serena smiles back. "Sounds sexy," she teases him.

"I pull out all the stops for you." He teases back.

"You don't have to, you know." _I'd love you anyway._

His smile softens and he stretches out next to her, hooks a leg over hers to tug her close to him. "But I want to, I _like _to."

"Well, I'm not going to _stop_ you..."

"Yeah..." a thread of seriousness slips into his voice, "Don't stop me."

"Don't let me stop you," she says very softly, resting her hand against his cheek as she kisses him.

He leans his forehead against hers, looks into her eyes, "Ever?"

"Ever's a really long time."

"I know."

She scrunches up her nose. "Sometimes I'm stubborn."

He kisses the tip of her nose. "I can be persistent."

"Okay." She nudges his body with her own, rolls them over so that she's stretched out on top of him, her toes resting on his feet. "Ever."

"Okay." That simple, that's how they should always be. He slides his hands under his shirt and against her skin, "I'm abducting you." But even when it's not- "Okay."

"Okay," she echoes, smiling at him as she tucks her hair out of her face.

He grins at her for a moment, touches a curl of hair, before leaning up and pressing a fast kiss to her mouth. He rolls them over quickly, kisses her again when she's underneath him. "You get one phone call," he laughs and then bounds off the bed and to his closet. He needs a duffel bag.

"Phone calls are for suckers," she giggles, finding her jeans against and stepping into them. She walks over to his dresser and pokes through his clothes, picking out t-shirts and boxers and a couple pairs of socks.

He laughs, drops the duffel onto the bed. "First order of business," he snakes arm around her waist and pulls her away from his dresser; kisses the back of her neck, "White bikini."

"Uh-uh." She shakes her head. "I don't want to go home, I just want to go." She turns her head and kisses the corner of his mouth. "How about no bikini?"

"Mhm... your argument is persuasive." He turns her around so he can kiss her, " I accept."

She smiles into the kiss, whispers, "Finish packing," against his mouth before she pulls away. "I'll get snacks."

* * *

**.tbc.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

Nate ties off another line and steals a glance at Serena. He's got her on his boat and in his shirt and away from everybody else - and it's still just a little hard to believe. He laughs, teases, "Helpful, much?"

She hands him the bottle of 7-Up-spiked-with-gin she's been drinking from. "I thought you liked doing this stuff," she says innocently.

He grins, checks the knots before taking the bottle. "And thoughtful too." He takes a gulp and then coughs, laughs, "What's in that? A teaspoon of soda?"

"At least _two_ teaspoons," she tells him, winking, before she hooks an arm around his neck and pulls him into a kiss.

He laughs when he leans back, pulls her onto his lap, "So this is basically where my abduction plan ends. Any thoughts?" He wiggles his eyebrows at her.

She tips up the bottom of the bottle, toward his mouth. "Drink more."

"Liquid inspiration," he laughs, swallows. "Okay. It works." He unbuttons one of the buttons on his shirt she's wearing. "I might have another plan."

"Yeah? Enlighten me."

"You," he unbuttons another button, "Me," he smiles, "The non-bikini... and the jacuzzi."

"Hmm." She tilts her head contemplatively. "One of your better ideas, I think."

"I'm on a roll," he teases.

She leaves a trail of kisses against the line of his jaw. "Tell me something."

"Pluto's not a planet anymore."

"Poor Pluto." She sneaks her hands beneath his shirt. "Something else."

"Mhmm," he kisses her and smiles lazily, "America's Cup leads off from Valencia next..."

"Fun." She pushes his shirt upward. "Something better."

He lifts his arms so she can lift it over his head and then yanks open the shirt she's wearing, sends a couple buttons flying and slides it down her arms, "You're amazing..." he mumbles, stares at her for a moment before pulling her closer.

He kisses her collarbone slowly, smiles,"Gorgeous... completely wrong about the best Jell-o flavor..." he tugs lightly at her earlobe with his teeth, whispers, "Everybody knows orange is the best."

She gives his shoulder a gentle shove, murmurs, "That is so not true, Nathaniel Archibald."

"It is _so_ true, Serena Celia van der Woodsen." He kisses the side of her face, works his way back to her mouth.

"Nope, _Fitzwilliam."_

He tips his head back and laughs. "No fair. I have the ridiculous middle name!"

Serena kisses him. "I think it's cute."

"You're cute. I have to try and keep up, I guess." He kisses her, loves have this privilege back, and then glances beyond her at the ocean. They're not too far out, but he still needs to stay attentive.

"You're already cute. I think we match."

"You're my match," he agrees and then gives her a quick kiss, "I have to adjust the sail." She's on his lap though.

"No, don't think so." She rests her forehead against his.

"We could end up on the Lost island," he teases, rocks them back and forth slowly.

"That's okay." She feels buzzed and silly and _happy._ "We already ran away."

He laughs softly, whispers, "Everything's right here."

"You said something about a jacuzzi..." She threads her fingers through his hair lazily. "It's okay if we get lost."

"I did..." he murmurs, keeps a hand at her back and slides the other underneath her knees. "Coordinates are for suckers..." he jokes, kisses her cheek before standing up with her in his arms.

She looks into his face. "If you throw me in I will _not_ be pleased."

He grins as he takes her below deck. "What if I drop you in?" He teases, "What then?"

"That's the same exact thing."

"Oh _is_ it," he laughs as he switches the jacuzzi on and heads towards it. It's bubbling up with warm water and he stands over it, peers down and wiggles Serena over the water. "Are you _sure?" _

"Nate!" She locks her arms around his neck and warns, "I will take you with me."

Nate grins. "Is that supposed to be a threat?" He challenges, takes a step back and then slides right into the water, landing with a splash in a sitting position. "Was kinda the plan," he laughs, splashes her some more.

She splashes him back. "You're still _clothed."_

He looks down at himself, his pants are completely soaked, and then he grins up at her, "I am. You gonna get on that, van der woodsen...?"

"Nope," she teases, splashing him a little more vigorously before she moves even closer to him and kisses him deeply.

He kisses her like he can't get enough of her, like he'll never get enough. "Still no... mercy," he breathes teasingly against her mouth, blinks his eyes open to watch her.

* * *

Serena points into the distance, shivering a little - the sun had disappeared sometime when they weren't really paying attention - and slips her hand into Nate's, cuddling into his side. "Lights," she announces.

He presses a kiss to her wet hair. "Lights are good."

She wraps her arms around him in a hug. "Let's stop."

Nate's pretty sure he has everything he needs on this boat. He hugs her to his side, "What for?"

"I don't know." She presses her face into his shoulder. "Just because we can."

Nate wraps both arms around her and turns them in a circle. "Excellent point," he touches his lips to her hairline, smiles, "We can do anything..."

He kisses her again and then takes her hand and twirls her under his arm so he can move away to shift the sails.

"More booze?" she suggests with a giggle, leaning back against the railing. She tips her head back. "I think I need a sweater."

"Clothes are overrated," he grins at her, tries divide his attention evenly between lines that need to be tied and Serena that's every fantasy he's ever had. Serena's winning.

"I'm cold." She studies the sky. "You're failing at this whole warming-me-up thing."

He laughs. "I'm trying to succeed in not sinking us," he ties off the last line; rushes over to her, "Sorry..." he loops his arms around her waist and pulls her closer, "My priorities are clearly skewed..." he kisses her lightly, smiles, "Help me out."

"Help you out with boat-things?" she asks brightly.

"Not exactly..." He kisses her again, feels her smooth skin under his hands, "'elp me focus..." he mumbles, bites her lip a little, "On... not sinking..."

"And how can I do that?" she asks quietly, steals another kiss.

Nate blinks at her, because- basically, he would need her to stop being Serena. He grins, "Eh, we can swim." He kisses her again.

She giggles into the kiss. "I need clothes. For when we get off the boat. You, too."

"Hm..." he sighs, drops his chin into her shoulder and hugs her. "You do that...?" He suggests softly, "I'll..." he chuckles, "Focus."

"Kay," she agrees, planting a quick kiss on his cheek before she slips below deck again.

He watches her go and then move backs to the navigation panel. He's not really sure where they are, but he's not really worried about it either - they can figure it out when they disembark.

By the time she comes back up, he's maneuvering into a slip. And yeah, kind of shivering. "Maybe there's a little value to clothes," he smiles.

Serena smiles back. She's wearing her jeans again and one of Nate's t-shirts tied at her midriff, and she brought two sweaters with her - she gives one to Nate and slips her arms into the sleeves of the other. "Told ya."

He takes in her outfit, smiling, and then laughs when she hands him a sweater. "Thank you." He puts it on and then waits. It takes him another moment to realize that's it and then he laughs, reaches out and pulls her closer, "Am I making a fashion statement or something?" He teases, nudges his bare knee against her jeans.

"Oh, pants." She laughs, presses her face into his neck to muffle the sound. "Sorry, I forgot."

He laughs again, hugs her against him, "Your subconscious desire to keep me pants-less and at your mercy is showing..."

She steps on his feet gently and then pulls back from the hug. "I want to explore. Go make yourself look decent."

And that is exactly what he does.

He rushes below deck and finishes getting dressed, even runs his fingers through his hair, to comb it down; and then he runs back up, "How do I look?"

He laughs before she can answer though and hops down from the side of the boat onto the dock, holds his arms out to help her down.

She smiles, resting her hands against his shoulders as she hops down onto the dock. She stays close to him for a moment and whispers, by his ear, "Where are we, do you think?"

He whispers back, "East coast... hopefully."

"Hopefully," Serena agrees. She slips her hand into his and tugs him after her as she begins to wander down the dock. "You know, I probably had _homework."_

He takes her hand, "This is way better than homework..." he snickers a little, "I probably did too. Tomorrow we might get_more_ homework."

"I don't care," Serena says decisively. She won't regret this.

Nate squeezes her hand. "Me either... homework, also, is for suckers," he teases. They turn the block onto a quiet street, a couple restaurants and store fronts, nothing flashy. He thinks about the wind and how long they sailed. "My guess is New Jersey."

She pouts. "That's not very exotic."

"We weren't out for very long..." he tugs her so she bumps into his side. "We'll just have to make it more exciting..."

She lifts her chin and smiles at him. "How?"

"Hm..." he glances around. _"First,_ we're going to need a liquor store..." he flashes her a grin, "Or maybe one of those restaurants will sell us bottles..."

"Let's go this way." She pulls him down a street, checking out the restaurants.

He laughs, "So bossy."

"Oh, _sorry."_ She stops short and bats her eyelashes at him. "You pick."

Nate grins, swings their joined hands between them and meets her gaze, "You."

She shrugs. "I'm not even that thirsty."

"That's okay. I can probably get a bottle of wine or champagne faster anyway..." he challenges casually, it's a dare and he stares at her with bright eyes and a knowing smile.

She gasps, pushing away from him and running into the nearest bar, tossing her hair over her shoulder and yelling, "As if!" at him.

Nate watches her until she disappears inside, losing precious seconds she's going to use to her advantage, but he can't help himself.

Then he laughs to himself and picks another restaurant, hopes for a female hostess, and goes to try his luck. It's been pretty good today.

It's kind of _painfully_ easy, just a lean against the bar and her arms crossed under her breasts, biting her lip and asking if she can just see their selection of wine - and then she's out of there, double-fisting red and white wine, the bartender's number scrawled onto a napkin tucked into her back pocket.

"Nate!" she calls, trying to figure out where he went.

The first place has a guy tending bar that wants to card him. Nate backs out of there with a confused look on his face, pretends he's in the wrong place.

At the second spot, he locks eyes with the girl behind the bar and all it takes is a sheepish grin and a quick story about wanting to impress a co-worker. He walks out with her number written on one of his hands and a bottle of champagne clutched in the other.

He spots Serena on the sidewalk already, two bottles in her hands. "Show off!" He teases, laughs.

She grins at him. "You doubted me."

Nate puckers his lips and shakes his head, "Me?" He pulls her towards against him, "Never..."

She leans in to kiss him and then holds up her wine bottles. "We're stocked. Where to?"

He shrugs, holds her tight and spins them around on the sidewalk, "Pick a direction."

"You pick this time." She purses her lips. "Find me an adventure."

"Oh sure," Nate grins, "I've got the whole thing worked out in my head," he nods, laughs a little. He has no idea where they rally are even.

"First..." he glances around and jumps a little when he sees the taxicab turning the corner, "First we get a taxi..." he takes her arm and pulls her along with him as jogs towards it, waves for the cab drivers attention, "Hey... hey!"

It stops and he beams at her little, opens the door.

"Thank you." She curtsies and slips into the cab, waiting for him to follow her.

He slides in after her, crowds in close, and when the cab driver asks where to, he laughs. "South."

Serena settles her head against his shoulder, yawning softly. "What's South?"

He sets the champagne on the floor, takes a wine bottle and twists it open. "We're gonna find out..." he grins, offers her the first sip.

* * *

**.tbc.**


End file.
